Fore note: Lots of thank you-s and a lot of hugs to Seldes Katne for beta-reading Hearts and Hourglasses before it's posted on Sugar Quill! She's a wonderful person and a fantastic beta-reader!
Chapter Nine: Hidden
Rowena didn't trust Draco. Slytherins were the most adept of the Houses in hiding what they thought. Salazar had once told her that since he couldn't read minds, he would at least try to hide what he was thinking from her and also teach his House accordingly.
"Guard your thoughts, think carefully," he would often say to his Slytherins. Then he would grin and jokingly tell them to beware her Ravenclaws the most. "Parseltongue is to the Slytherins, and Mindread is to the Ravenclaws," he'd drone. However, he would deliberately omit to mention to them that only one Mindreader was known to have existed, and that one person was Rowena Ravenclaw.
Rumors flared, stories told of Ravenclaws being able to read minds, none of which was ever proven of course. Still, Slytherins tend to regard Ravenclaws with suspicion. That impression of her House has since disappeared over the thousand years. Mindread was now considered no more than as a myth.
Salazar would be pleased to know, if she ever thought it prudent to tell him, that his House had finally produced a mind she couldn't read.
***
Draco lay flat on his stomach, knuckles against his chin as he looked over the long side of the bed. In the six-foot space in between Draco's and Harry's beds, Salazar and Godric were sprawled on the floor and playing pick up sticks.
The game consisted of thirty-six slender sticks: one white, one black, three reds, three greens, three blues, three yellows, six violets, nine oranges and seven random sticks. The object of the game was to pick up each stick without jarring other sticks.
Draco almost laughed aloud at how intently both men were playing the game, and quickly pressed his mouth against his pillow to muffle his snicker. What a moronic pastime! He snorted into his pillow at the sight of Godric, cheek pressed against floor, carefully levering a yellow stick off two oranges with a red stick he had picked up easily at the start of the game.
"Steady, Godric..." murmured Salazar, lying flat on his stomach, his hands over each other and flat on the floor with his chin balancing on top of them. He winced suddenly and raised his head, lifting a hand to his left eye, which was black, blue and puffy.
"This really hurts," Salazar commented after Godric picked up his yellow stick, "I think your right hook has improved since the last time."
"When was the last time?" asked Godric, eyeing a blue stick wedged just a bit between an orange and a green stick.
Salazar tilted his head as he propped his chin on his palm. He stared off to a point in between him and Godric. "... Scarlet Simeons' Tavern."
"... That long... We have gotten used to Helga breaking us apart before we can actually hurt each other," Godric said with realization.
Listening to this conversation, Draco was starting to have serious doubts that these two men were Slytherin and Gryffindor.
Harry suddenly stirred, and Godric quickly stood up. Draco pushed himself up to a sitting position on the bed; Salazar doing the same on the floor.
"Harry," Godric said softly, reaching out a hand to grasp Harry's shoulder firmly. Draco could see Harry's body tensed then he rolled away from Godric.
Useless, Draco thought spitefully.
***
Harry couldn't face Godric Gryffindor. He closed his eyes and wished Godric would let go of his shoulder. Instead of bringing warmth and comfort as it had done before, he could only feel cold shame now.
"Harry." He flinched when Godric said his name again.
"Godric," Salazar said, "Leave him alone for a while."
Godric started to protest, then he fell silent and let go of Harry's shoulder. Harry felt him move away, and a short while after, he heard the door open and close. He relaxed then, glad to be alone.
"Poor little Harry Potter..."
Harry's breath caught, and he sat up quickly, turning to see Draco sneering at him. Fearful realization crashed into him.
"Y-you know-"
"That's right, Potter, I know! I know about them!"
His blood ran cold. Harry was paralyzed, and he could only stare at Draco who swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He couldn't even force himself to move when Draco grabbed the front of robes and hauled Harry off the bed.
As his feet hit the floor, Harry slipped immediately. He couldn't make sense of his own body. His legs felt detached and separated from the rest of him.
But Draco was holding him up, keeping Harry from collapsing to the floor like a lifeless doll. He suddenly pulled Harry close and hissed into his ear.
"I know what you're thinking right now, Potter!" Spit flew from Draco's mouth. "You're thinking it's your fault I know about them, aren't you? Everything is your fault after all. Diggory was your fault, right? Your fault that he died. I bet you even think it's your fault your mother died."
Harry's right hand trembled as Draco continued, this time softer but no less sharp, "But guess what, Potter? This time it's not your fault. I found out about them all on my own. You're starting to shake, Potter... Bet you're disappointed you're not included in this one..."
"Want to know how I found out without your help, Potter? After Dumbledore announced it yesterday morning, I already knew they weren't here to rate Hogwarts. You see, my father mentioned that the Ministry was too busy losing their marbles, too frightened and scared about the Dark Lord coming to think about accrediting magical schools."
"Two wizards. Two witches. Each one wearing distinctive House colors and pins. Look at their aliases! It doesn't take much to connect the dots, and you seemed so interested in them at dinner too. I wondered if you knew about it. Knowing Dumbledore... yes, I knew you knew. You are his favorite."
"When Goyle got hurt, I immediately volunteered to escort Professor Scaevola. Hah! I told Goyle to get hurt! Snape probably knew what I was up to. Then... when you showed up with Gryffindor, it was perfect. I could see you were nervous that I might find out."
"... Actually, I was surprised you used Crucio, Potter... It takes guts. I would have been satisfied if you used Furnunculus again to shut me up. All I wanted was for you to embarrass yourself in front of Gryffindor. When you used Crucio, I thank God that Diggory had died."
***
"LET ME GO!" Harry screamed and struggled to get away from Godric. "I'M GOING TO KILL HIM! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"
"HARRY!" Godric dragged a spitting, clawing, kicking, biting Harry away from Draco who stood calmly in front of Salazar. He watched coldly as Godric cursed in pain when Harry bit his hand very hard.
Helga was shaking. Beside her, Rowena looked ready to burst into tears.
A sharp pain exploded in Draco's cheek. He fell back against Salazar as Helga, hand still raised from delivering the slap, shrieked furiously, "SALAZAR, GET HIM OUT OF HERE! GET HIM OUT BEFORE I KILL HIM MYSELF!"
Draco didn't feel the hands that touched his shoulders and led him away.
From the room, they stepped into a magnificent brightly-lit hall. Draco paused, stumbling a little and blinking at the sunlight that came streaming through a crystal dome crowning the hall. Absent-mindedly, he thought that he had never been in this hall before.
Then, suddenly, he was standing in the familiar empty torch-lit entrance hall of Hogwarts.
Draco blinked, regaining some sense, but suddenly losing all strength in his legs. He started to fall, but the hands on his shoulders tightened and pulled him back up. Draco felt a warm body against his back and realized that Salazar was fully supporting him.
After a few moments, Draco pulled away and turned slowly to look up at Lord Slytherin. Salazar's green eyes were unreadable, and Draco knew for certain that he would reject him just as Helga Hufflepuff had.
Salazar Slytherin wasn't the man Draco expected him to be. He had expected someone like his father, a cold and calculating man who would do anything to get his way. This man standing in front of him was not the dark lord he had expected.
Draco had watched him carefully, watched him taunt Godric Gryffindor and brawled with him. He had seen him flirt with Rowena Ravenclaw. He had seen him make fun of Helga Hufflepuff behind her back (and regretting it afterwards when she caught him). He had seen clearly how close Salazar Slytherin was to them. He could see they were friends.
How disappointed he must be of Draco.
But. He wasn't Harry Potter. Draco lifted his head, meeting Salazar's eyes directly and fearlessly. He wasn't Harry who was afraid of disappointing his House's Founder. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid of anything. He wasn't afraid of Salazar Slytherin.
"Go ahead, Sir," Draco said softly, glaring at the Founder of his House, challenging him.
And surprisingly, Salazar grinned at him. Pride glinted in emerald eyes as he said, "That was very well done, Draco."
Draco's mouth dropped as Salazar laughed and embraced him. "That was well done!" He accidentally bit part of the man's robes when a big warm hand affectionately rubbed his hair.
"I knew you would do it! I knew it!"
Draco's eyes squeezed shut and without realizing what he was doing, he hugged Salazar back. Draco didn't understand him, didn't understand what he was saying, and didn't understand why he was accepting him.
"W-why?" Choked Draco against the damp spot he had made on forest green robes. "Why would I do it?"
"In order to get something you wanted," answered Salazar softly, "and you did get what you wanted."
"... What was it that I wanted and that I got?"
Salazar chuckled, and the light warm sound made Draco's heart soar.
"You wanted your rival back, Draco. It was so obvious."
To be continued.
Notes:
From Phoenix Mage:
"I understood it. One question though. When did the founders come back into the room when Harry threatened to kill Draco? But I'll tell you, Draco deserves to be killed. Seriously. Another great chapter, though!"
An excellent question, and I am glad I can answer it.
First off to get rid of plot holes. Rowena Ravenclaw's mind-reading talent only works in close proximity (arms length away). So she couldn't (hear) Harry when he was beating himself up about Cedric or when Draco was threatening him.
Okay. Now to answer Phoenix' question: The Founders were watching Harry and Draco when Godric and Salazar left. How? I'll leave to your imagination. When Draco suddenly grabbed Harry, they were all ready to go rescue Harry, thinking Draco was going to beat him up.
However, Draco just started talking, just talking to Harry. They heard everything he said. It was clear Draco was hurting Harry with every word he said. But, like Harry, they were caught by what Draco was saying. They couldn't help but have to hear what he had to say.
Then, Draco said something that was just too much to take.
I hope this answers the question satisfactorily. I didn't write the scene with the Founders watching, because it would have broken the plot flow. That scene was from Harry's point of view.
I couldn't find a way to insert a scene of the Founders watching without distracting from the current mood. However, I had hoped that the readers were clued in when Salazar told Godric to leave Harry alone for awhile, and Godric did after hesitating a bit. Godric left Harry alone because he intended to watch Harry, even though Harry didn't want him near.
Chapter 9 has ended. Please go on to the next chapter.
http://pub79.ezboard.com/fschnooglethebestofharrypotterfanfictionfrm165
